The Sumner County Food Bank needs help from the community in a big way, to keep many residents from going hungry next month.

CEO of the food bank and Pastor of Liberty Baptist Church, James Gill says the facility is facing unimaginable times.

For 10 years, he and his team have served Sumner County, giving them whatever they need to fight hunger, and for 10 years, no family that has come looking for help has gone hungry. He and his team feed up to 1,400 people a month.

That all could change on April 21 if the Food Bank does not get the help they need.

“The stores are not donating food to us right now because they are selling out of everything (due to the COVID-19 pandemic),” he said. “I am not sure what we will do. We need to come up with 50,000 pounds of food. We need help from our Sumner County residents. I cannot stand the thought of children going hungry. It breaks my heart.”

Gill and his team will now head to Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville, looking for their meals simply because of cost. You can buy up to three times the amount of food there than you can at your local grocery store.

“We need to raise about $8,000 to buy that much food for April,” Gill added. “We have several families sending donations, but I just do not know what we are going to do for April.”

Gill says that each family usually receives 125 pounds of food to last them for a month.

“In April, we will do the best we can and give what we have; it may be far less than before, but we will do our best,” Gill continued.

Gill got the calling to help 50 years ago when he was a pastor and came to church two hours before service began.

There he saw a man, wife, and their three children. The man came to James and asked if there was a way he could feed his three children.

He took them to a local restaurant, filled their gas tank, and gave them nearly all of the money he had in his pocket before sending them on their way to live with the husband’s brother in Jacksonville, Fla.

“I was sitting in my office, and I felt like God was saying to me if you tell them you love them, then show them,” he recalled.

Times are tough for Gill, and even a man as strong as he is with his faith in God says he has been tested through these times.

“This too shall pass,” he added. “We will make it through with the help of good people, but it is hard right now.”

If you would like to help the families of Sumner County, you can do so with monetary donations, donating food, or donating your time. You can make checks payable to the Sumner County Food Bank at 1021 Woods Ferry Road in Gallatin as well as donating non-perishable foods. You can also visit https://sumnercountyfoodbankgallatin.com/HowCanYouHelp.html